County Went “Wet”: Tax Revenues Increased but Not Crime

Legalizing the retail sale of alcoholic beverages leads to increased crime, insist opponents of such sales. They made the same argument in opposing the legalization of alcohol in Angelina County, Texas.

However, the statistics tell a different story. Lt. David Young of the Lufkin Police Department reports that “we don’t see any change” since the city became “wet” a year ago.

Of course, taxes from those sales now remain in the county and benefit local residents instead of neighboring counties.

Another benefit is that “wet” counties have lower alcohol-related traffic fatalities than do “dry” counties.

Reference:

Jones, R. R. Crime has not increases since the country went wet. KTRE, channel 9, July 10, 2007.